I made the leap this year to using a free income tax filer. Previous years I had been using one of the online programs that would run me about $30 and change to file the returns for the wife and I. Well no loner, I’ll keep that $30 some dollars in my bank account that you very much.

It wasn’t half the nightmare I thought it would be to use either. Seemed to be almost as fast as the program that costs me money, however not as pretty, but this ain’t no Ms Universe competition, so pretty doesn’t count for much. Actually I think I liked it better than the one I was using, some parts especially about claiming child tax credits and other child related expenses seem to be much more straightforward. If you feel like making the jump to free this year, I say go for it. Just do an online search for reviews for the program you will be using, if mostly positive comments, then fire that bad boy up and grab a beer and hunker down for the next hour or so and pray for that big refund at the end.

Maybe you have been taking your taxes to someone to have them done. I have news for you, most people don’t need that. Are you self employed? Have complex business expenses to claim? Have dividends/capital gains/interest that is taxable? Own foreign property or have foreign income? No, then NEWSFLASH, you can do your own taxes. Really super easy, you just input numbers from boxes on your T4 into the corresponding fields on the software you will be using. Don’t really know what those numbers mean? Doesn’t really matter. Still not sure about this? Ask a friend or relative to help you out.

At this point you might be thinking, speaking of taxes, why haven’t I covered the whole RRSP/TFSA debate yet? I do plan do, but not in time for this year, there are a lot of other good blogs that cover this topic, Google is your friend.

The chance to save 100% doesn’t come along everyday, so make it count.

The Fake Cheap Rating.The lower the stars, the cheaper I was/am. The higher the stars the more “fake” cheap I am/was.You can’t get any more cheep than free! ZERO STARS!!!

Welcome to my finance blog. This blog is for anyone who wants to try do better with the financial aspect of their life. Yes, you have to TRY. There is some work involved with this, but not too much. Good news though, after a while this financial stuff WILL become common sense, and second nature to you. So you can continue on with your life in auto pilot financial control. I also want people to make these financial decisions with keeping the environment in mind as well.

I promise you I am not, and never have, done anything that would be considered financially extreme. My family and I live a very normal life, we just THINK when it comes to making financial CHOICES. This does include not only the large purchases, but also the everyday ones.

This blog is for almost anyone: high income earners, low income earners, middle class families, students, retirees, or single people. I am Canadian, so I will focus on what might matter to Canadians, but all are certainly welcome.

I hope to post about once or twice a week, please forgive me if I don’t.

I also want to throw this out there: if someday this blog turns into a money-maker, which I can’t see at the moment, I will donate a minimum of 20% of profit to charity.

Thanks for following me on my financial journey. I hope to help you along yours.